you and me
by oh-the-linsanity
Summary: "Air is the element of freedom." Fed up with not being able to airbend, Korra decides the best way to solve her problem is to jump into freedom itself. And it's just Mako's luck that she picks him to tag along for the ride.


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_you and me_

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"What are you doing?"

Mako peaks over hesitantly from his seat on the saddle. He's spent the last twenty minutes with a not-so-manly grip on Oogi's saddle; his kuckles are stark white and his fingers cramp. Testing their dexterity, he crawls to the front of the saddle where he spots Korra's ponytail blowing in the winter wind. His breath comes out like puffy clouds and he bites the inside of his cheek to warn off a shiver. But his discomfort erases as his suspicions come to life; he watches with confusion as she shrugs off her parka.

Korra throws it square behind her—the wind catches it and it smacks Mako square in the face. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Being an idiot," he says honestly. "It's freezing."

"So wear the parka."

"_Not the point._" He looks up at the sky and watches as his breaths cloud the navy sky spackled in stars. "Korra, why did you drag me up here in the middle of the night? What couldn't wait until tomorrow?" He bites the bottom of his lip as he looks down at the ground—the earth is dotted in stars as well.

Korra shifts on Oogi's head, facing Mako. "I'm more powerful at night; waterbender, remember?"

"You're the Avatar, remember?"

She huffs amusedly. "I've noticed." She crawls over to him, resting her arms on the edge of the saddle. "Okay, I'll tell you, ready?"

He quirks an eyebrow and waits. Her eyes look lighter in the dark and he can practically see the moon shining in her pupils. Korra fights a smile until she leans in closer, her breath tickling his ear…

She shrieks in his ear.

Mako instantly leans back, covering his ears. "Jeez what was that for? I swear, Korra, sometimes—" his voice trails off.

He slowly lowers his hands and lets a small grin grace his lips. Korra is _laughing_. Sure, he has heard her laugh before, but this is different. Her eyes crinkle adorably and her nose scrunches quirkily and he can practically see her childhood bubbling over in her expression. She is young and happy and _free_ and—

She grabs his wrist.

Her chest heaves, recovering from her fit, but her eyes are still bright with wonder. "Air is the element of freedom," she recites quietly.

He cocks his head. "Yeah…"

She dips in closer, her grip on his wrist tighter. "I've got to be _free_, Mako."

He swallows an uncomfortable lump in his throat. "Right."

"Do you trust me?" She blurts.

"Of course," he spits back immediately. A funny look contorts her face before her features relax, nothing remaining but a lopsided grin.

"Good." She reaches over him to grab something she'd covered in a blanket before they'd taken off—he was instructed not to look. He ignores how her hair tickles his cheek and how her chest rubs against his shoulder as she struggles to grab it. Out of the corner of his eye, an open glider came into view, and Korra settles it awkwardly on her lap.

Mako reaches for the glider. She slaps his hand away. "Hey, when did Tenzin give you—"

A smug look appears on her face. "He didn't. I _borrowed one_."

His eyes dart back and forth between the glider and Korra. "What are you…"

She stands up, wildly unbalanced atop Oogi's head.

Mako's eyes go wide with worry. "Whoa, Korra! Are you crazy, sit back down! What if you fall?"

Her mouth twists in concentration before she glances back up, lips pressed in a firm line. "That's the whole point."

She takes on an unusual silence and a shiver ran down Mako's spine.

"You said you trusted me." She reminds him. Mako has to resist slapping himself in the face. His eyes flicker down to the ground. "Korra, how am I supposed to know this is going to work."

She positions herself clumsily on the glider. "You won't let anything bad happen to me—that's why I brought you up here." She shrugs as she turns around, her back to him. "And besides, I figured…well, I figured you'd also be the only one crazy enough to let me do it in the first place."

Mako groans.

Korra reaches up with one hand and unties her ponytail, letting her brown hair whip about wildly in her face. "I 'm going to airbend, Mako. I just got to be free."

"Korra…"

"Catch me if I fall?" she waits for an answer.

"…Of course," He watches her lean down, ready to jump. He grabs Oogi's reins, mentally running through all the scenarios of how this could end badly. "Be careful?" He asks.

"Careful? haha, never!"

She jumps.

Deafening silence engulfs him. The wind howls in his ear and Oogi's breaths rumble in his chest but he cannot hear Korra's screams. He rips the reins to the right, desperately trying to find a mess of brown hair on a broken glider but instead all he hears is laughter.

She swoops up behind him.

Her cackle rings in his ears and he stares up, awed. It doesn't exactly look like gliding; nothing like the kids on the temple do. She was _flying_. Darting and dashing and looping, all the while, her laughter louder than the wind, and her bared teeth brighter than the moon.

She is airbending. She is free.

"_Whoooohoooo!"_

He cups his hands over his mouth, hoping she can hear her. "_Way to go, Korra!_" Mako listens as a soft giggle bounces through the sky.

She eventually comes back, her cheeks bright pink and her hair a frizzy mess. "That was amazing!" She pulls Mako into a bone-crushing hug and he's forced to pretend his cheeks don't turn as brightly pink as hers. He gently pulls her off, keeping his hands on her shoulders to bring her close.

"Not bad," he whispers. A half-hearted chuckle hiccups in her throat before she leans forward, resting her forehead on his. Her breaths are slow and even.

"Not bad?" she murmurs. Soon, her face breaks into an ear-splitting grin. "What does it take to impress you, I wonder…"

He lifts his head, eyeing her suspiciously. "Don't you even dare, you know I didn't mean-"

"Oh, I bet you want to try it for yourself! I _guess_ I _could-_"

"_Korra!"_

"You're up, city boy!" She yanks him by the collar and throws them off the bison. And for a split second he's drowning in air and suffocating in speed but then that familiar laugh is back and he's gripping to the top of her glider, praying she's already gotten the hang of it.

But he smiles anyway.

"Of course!" he hoots, as Korra sends them soaring into the night.

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_notes: just my little interpretation of how Korra's first airbending moment could unfold._

_she's a nutball like that._

_sorry for the lack of korrabook and crooked updates. i got stucks :P and this was born instead._

_stay flamin'_


End file.
